by St. Nikolai Velimirovich
What kind of bond should there be between man and God? An unbreakable and continual bond. `"Adhere to God as a son adheres to his father," counseled St. Anthony. And St. Alonius said: "If a man is not set in his heart that there is no one else in the world but himself and God, he cannot find peace in his soul." The one God is enough, and more than enough, for all that the heart of man can desire.
Without a single protest, Blessed Theodora received a stranger's child, given to her by slanderers, as if it were her own. Theodora raised this child with love, and reared it in the fear of God. Before her death, this is how she counseled the child:
"What is more necessary for man than God and His divine love? He is our refuge, He is our treasure, He is our food and drink, He is our raiment and shelter, He is our health and strength, He is our happiness and joy, He is our hope and our trust. Strive then, my son, to gain Him. If you succeed in gaining the One God, it will be sufficient for you; you will rejoice more in Him than if you had gained the entire world."
In saying this, St. Theodora did not speak from a book or from someone else's words, but on the basis of her own personal experience. She lived for seven years, driven out and scorned by all men, and during that time she learned by experience that God was everything to her, and that the One God was sufficient for all that the heart of man desires.
